Cuisinart CTG-00-DB Stainless Steel Dough Blender - Black - Perfect for Pie Crusts, Biscuits & Pastry Making

I chose this dough blender because the old wire one that I had was beginning to fail. This blender does work, and seems very strong. The blades don't flex with my typical usage.However, like other blenders of this type the sharp angles where the vertical pieces meet the blades make it difficult to press effectively against the sides of the round bottom bowls unless the radius of the bowl matches the curvature of the blades (not as much a problem with blenders with curved wire blades). Note that the blades are not sharp--actually they are blunt, as determined by the thickness of the metal.Also, there are just four blades, rather than five or six as seen with some other blenders. This means that this blender will require 50% more strokes to achieve the same result as with a six-blade blender. However, the wider spacing between the blades makes it easy to clean.I wish that there were something that had the strength of this blender and the feel of the wire type blender. My wire blender, when new, worked better, but it wasn't long before the handle started coming off. The Cuisinart blender looks as if it will last a long time.I must confess I bought this pastry cutter primarily because I trust the Cuisinart brand--not all the reviews were fully positive, and I had some concerns. But I am perfectly happy with this purchase.The cutter feels solid, stable in the hand, and does the job perfectly. I have been making pastry dough in the processor or even in my kitchen aid stand mixer using the paddle attachment, but I think the flakiest dough results from using a pastry cutter and your own hands--the least amount of mixing the better: the dough should hold together, yet the bits of butter should be clearly visible throughout. This cutter allowed me to 'cut in' the butter just perfectly, without making a mush of the dough.I have not used the cutter to make chopped salads, as suggested by some of the reviewers, but look forward to trying that. With Easter this weekend, chopped egg salad can't be that far behind!I use this mainly to make pie dough, but it's also useful for chopping or mashing other stuff. It's quite sturdy and the metal part does not rotate around the handle. There are 2 issues that I have with it, however.1. The blades are blunt. The last time I used one of these (before I bought this) was maybe 10 years ago, and I remember the blades being sharper. These blades tend to squish cold butter rather than slicing through it.2. You have to wash it carefully by hand to get it clean. Due to the design, food can accumulate in the corners and the dishwasher cannot get rid of it all.Overall, I think it's pretty good. It's made pie making a lot easier (I used to use forks before this) It's also really hard to find in stores for some reason, so I'm glad Amazon carries it.My grandmother's dough blender lasted for over 60 years, and I wish I hadn't thrown it away because I started baking pies and needed one. A dough blender is not very expensive, and feeling upscale at the moment I decided to splurge on this nice-looking Cuisinart model for a few dollars more. Huge mistake! This piece of junk lasted through six pies before it fell apart. One might think that the handle of a dough blender could be molded in one piece, but no. While making my seventh pie with it, suddenly it felt painful in my hand, and to my surprise I saw that a whole piece had fallen out. It was the most important piece, too -- the piece with the Cuisinart name on it! Where it disappeared to I have no idea, probably in the trash, but it left a gaping hole with two spikes sticking up. The only way I could finish blending my dough was to wrap the handle in a wash cloth, not a practical solution for a product I had intended to use for the rest of my life. Thinking they might be embarrassed by their own shoddy product, I sent a polite note to Cuisinart asking them if they would like to replace it. They were gracious enough to reply and advised me it would cost me $7.00 in shipping to return the dough blender and get another. (Mr. Coffee sent me a brand new coffeemaker by overnight mail, no questions asked and at their own expense when I complained that the one I purchased leaked.) This certainly tarnishes the name of Cuisinart for me. I don't think I'll be purchasing any more Cuisinart products, because who knows what Cuisinart-emblazened parts might suddenly fall off? Please take a look at the customer image I uploaded.I got this specifically for making biscuits. It fits my size L hands perfectly. It is very sturdy and should last a long time if used properly. The blades have a great separation, doing the job well and easy to clean. Definitely a great buy.Works way better than the knife method. But it's still a by hand dough slicer, so you do have to stop and get the dough off the blender and back into the bowl to blend. But since I bought this I have found a better method of making pie crusts, I just use the cuisanart, It's so much easier and more consistent. Look up how to use vodka in your pie crusts! It's amazing, my own mother said my crusts were better than hers!I guess I'll keep this around if any of my foodie friends come over and I don't want to be caught using the cuisanart.I'm a New Englander, but during my travels I've been to the South and Mid West and I found biscuits and gravy is great breakfast! My Wife is a great cook, but being a New England girl, she never heard of biscuits and gravy. Recently a Southern friend of ours taught my Wife how to make them, needless to say I'm thrilled!!So, what does this have to do with the Dough Blender? You need one to blend the dough for the biscuits of course! We had an old one, from my Mom probably 50 years old, pretty tired and bent. So to make sure I have a great breakfast I was looking for a new, good, strong replacement. This one works great! And inexpensive to boot. Go for it!Ya habia tenido la oportunidad de probar accesorios de esta misma marca,asi que me anime a comprar uno de estos y me encanto pues su mango es muy firme!Me ayuda mucho con la masas en las que no puedo utilizar las manos y la parte inferior tambien la puedo usar para cortar la masa! es genial!El envio llego en tiempo y forma, muy bien y en su empaque original.best investment for bread and pastry making! The soft grip handle is what you need as you knead and blend the dough. It helped me with learning different breadmaking styles!It's a pastry blender but it also chops up hard boiled eggs for egg salad.